A Penny for Your Thoughts
by Whimsical Symphony
Summary: When his sister is brought home by her unkempt friend of a friend, Kise doesn't know what to think, especially since she treats him like a kid. Somehow, she becomes both his life coach and a much needed friend. But Kise learns he also needs to be a good friend to her, since through their exchange of secrets, he understands life experience often stems from a hard life. [Kise/OC]
1. Just Listen

**A Penny for Your Thoughts**

_Written by Whimsical Symphony_

_Honestly, I have an aversion to OC stories with pairings for some odd reason – must have been because of the fair amount of Sues I've ran into and such and never really shipping an OC with any character. But I thought of this idea, it and since I read a few good OC fics lately I just decided to go with it. Hope you guys don't mind age differences because my OC is four years older – I wanted to try something a little different than the usual schoolmate who Kise falls for. Although I've seen a few good ones for that too. In this fandom especially I really liked the story 'Liar, Liar' and hope the author updates soon. This is an experiment since I've never tried this before, but go ahead and tell me what you think. I want to see how well this goes for me too – it's a new sort of challenge. I accept any and all criticism and comments, so hit me with your hardest._

* * *

**Chapter I – Just Listen**

"Ryouta, I'm back!"

The door opened and Kise saw one of his older sisters, Kise Aika, stumble in, cheeks flushed, clearly from a bit of alcohol. She went to a karaoke bar that night – why, he didn't know, because his sister couldn't sing at all. She could probably break glass with her voice, as opera singers often had the ability for in comedies on the television. The responsibility to take care of her fell to him since his other sister already moved out of the house a while back and his parents were still on vacation.

When his sister, looking every bit like a toddler taking her first steps on two legs, seemed about to fall, he rushed to the door to catch her, but someone else seemed to do it for him. Blinking, he looked behind Aika, to see another woman there.

She looked every bit like a delinquent – short hair, really thick jacket and sweats that she just threw on without any thought put into it obviously, and a cool look on her face that would put an ice cube to shame. A type of person his sister didn't talk to often.

"Aika, come on, get a grip. I made you drink water for a reason," she muttered. Sighing, she turned to Kise then, a frown on her lips. "Kid, you her brother? Sorry she's almost completely out of commission. I tried to stop her but she kept going for it." She cringed when she thought about Aika's terrible singing that sounded like crows attempting to pass off as nightingales. It didn't work and she thought Aika might have killed several people with her singing tonight. Her appearance was decidedly deceptive. Looking at her super pretty boy brother, she simply assumed that he sucked just as much when it came to humming a simple melody. It appeared that the pretty faces couldn't sing at all. "Her singing just got worse as the night went on."

"You're so _mean_, Suzume!" Aika whined petulantly. He wondered if he sounded like that often, and whether that was the reason Kuroko rejected to play with him in Kaijou. It did sound a little annoying now that he listened to his sister do it.

Kise sighed, and so did the woman, Suzume. Pushing his annoyance aside when she called him a kid, he closed the door behind her. "Thank you for bringing her home... Senpai," Kise settled with, a bright smile on his face. He didn't really know her, but she was older, and judging by that, senpai seemed the obvious choice. He didn't really know what to think about her, but he doubted his sister would associate with a bad type, even if she may have looked it. He decided to trust her judgment and try to become friends like he did with most people. After all, Suzume did help bring his raging drunk sister home, and for that, he thanked her. "She really sucks at singing. I tried to stop her from making everyone else suffer, but she doesn't listen to me, it's so sad," he joked with a grin.

"Amusing, kid," Suzume answered, laughing a little. Extending her hand, she said, "Miyakigawa Suzume, friend of Aika's friend, no need for senpai. Just call me Suzume."

"That would be rude of me," he answered teasingly. Kise took it with a smile but then said, "Senpai, my name is Kise Ryouta, not kid. Won't you call me by my name?" He made sure to give her his brightest smile that would coerce her into not treating him like a kid. But, he grew surprised when the woman looked at him without the slightest blush on her features. Did she not recognize him? But, she did think of him as a kid, so that kind of explained it – no matter what he looked like. He didn't think he acted like a kid much, and age-wise, he doubted they lay that far apart.

"Ryouta-_chan _then," Suzume just answered with a smirk, especially directed at his exasperation. She looked at him for a moment, squinting when observing his features. "Hm, where have I seen you before. You look pretty familiar actually. Ah… Aika did mention her brother was a model…" she mumbled to herself oddly. She did recognize the blond male from somewhere, but didn't really care much. It felt a little odd to have seen someone before she knew them. "No matter, we should get Aika up to bed then. Hope you won't mind me staying over tonight because I've got no way home. I also want to take care of Aika – she's a terrible drunk from what I've learned today. I don't want the little brother to be forced to deal with her crap today." Without waiting for Kise's answer, she dragged Aika up the stairs when she finished taking off her shoes. "Come on, you're going to get to bed now, alright?"

"I don't _want_ to go to bed, Suzume!"

"Too bad," Suzume replied, hauling Aika to her feet and forcing her to walk up the stairs.

The two of them bickered like a parent and child. Kise looked at her in awe; he could never get his sister to do anything, even while mostly drunk.

Aika's looked a little pale and ill. And Kise decided to warn his strong new ally who'd have to deal with her. The shabby looking woman who seemed strangely goodhearted enough for helping out his sister when she didn't even know her, and who didn't seem to even recognize him in the least. He called out, "Miyakigawa-senpai I just wanted to tell you-"

But he couldn't finish, as the sound of someone sending out projectile vomit filled his ears. When he looked at Suzume, he respected her all the more for not even flinching despite the vomit covering her form.

"- she pukes when she drinks a lot," Kise finished with a small frown. "You're free to use the shower if you want," he added, taking pity on her. "And you can borrow some of Aika's clothes."

"Thanks kid. You're a nice one." Suzume gave him a small smile that fleetingly rested on her normally stone-cold features, a rare smile that made her seem so much kinder and less cold. But then, reverting to looking nothing less than a member of a gang, she continued to drag Aika up the stairs, not even caring about the vomit heavily painting her like a bad piece of abstractionism. "By the way Ryouta-chan, I told you to just call me Suzume, didn't I?"

Kise didn't want to think about how it rubbed him the wrong way for someone to treat him like a kid, but regardless, he smiled a little. That woman took his terribly drunk sister home when she didn't even know her. The thought worried him: what if someone other than Suzume who didn't really know Aika before that night brought her home? His sister was reckless as always.

He'd be in for a long night taking care of Aika, he knew it.

* * *

"Kise, why do you look so tired. You're slacking off."

Drowsily, Kise turned toward Kasamatsu Yukio. His whole body felt like lead, and he imagined that Miyakigawa Suzume felt the same. His sister Aika didn't puke once when drunk, she puked repeatedly. And so, he and Suzume spent the entire night holding back her hair, giving her fluids, and taking care of her into the wee hours of the morning, when they both just crashed from a lack of energy. When he left for school the next day, he saw Suzume still asleep, snoring loudly, looking like even more of a mess than when she knocked on the door, drool spilling from the corner of her lips.

"Sorry, Kasamatsu-senpai, I've had a rough night," Kise admitted sheepishly. "I didn't mean for it to mess up my practice." He dribbled the ball he kept ahold of almost lazily, though Kasamatsu knew if someone attempted to take that ball from him, they'd be in for a big surprise. No one considered Kise Ryouta a member of the Generation of Miracles for nothing.

Kasamatsu sighed and asked, as a friend should do, perhaps not a captain, "What's wrong?"

Kise, ever honest and never really lying, answered, "My sister came home drunk and both her friend and I ended up taking care of her all night. It was exhausting. I've never seen so much puke in my life, Kasamatsu-senpai – it was so gross!" he whined, clinging onto Kasamatsu with a vice grip. "And it put Miyakigawa-senpai out of commission too. I know when I get home she'll still be there trying to catch some sleep."

He would have pitied her, if he didn't find himself in the exact same condition, fighting the temptation of sleep, while his muscles ached with a passion for rest.

Kasamatsu pried himself out of Kise's grip and punched him hard on the shoulder, ignoring then the puppy-like pout that surfaced on his face because of it: a look which clearly said, _'but I love you Kasamtasu-senpai, don't hit me!'_. Kasamatsu Yukio groaned when he almost saw the invisible tail drooping behind Kise, and his effectively slouched form, exactly like a submissive dog. "Miyakigawa-senpai?" he said in an effort to keep the conversation going. Looking to the others in the gym, he saw them all doing their drills, so at least that was one load off his shoulders. Kise looked too exhausted to do anything, with the slight impression of bags under his eyes along with just a little less energy that he used to act all annoying.

"Friend of my sis' friend who brought her back yesterday," Kise explained. Sighing, he continued with, "She treats me like a kid. She just calls me kid and Ryouta-chan. Isn't that stupid?" He looked at Kasamatsu for a minute, comparing the woman to him, since they both made an effort to treat him that way. "She acts like you, actually," he added with a laugh. He saw it now, although Miyagawa Suzume didn't try the whole tough-love act like Kasamatsu Yukio. They both seemed to treat him like an elementary school kid. With Kasamatsu, he knew sometimes, he even_ felt_ like an elementary schooler, unfortunately. It just proved their point that he lacked any and all maturity.

"She's an older woman, of course she's going to think you're a kid, Kise," Kasamatsu answered. He hoped that _'Miyakigawa-senpai' _wasn't a terrible person, because then he wouldn't want to be compared to her. "Especially when you act like one." Kise frowned even more because of his comment. Kasamatsu sighed. "Is it really so bad? She doesn't hate you or anything."

But Kise didn't seem to listen to Kasamatsu, his thoughts circulating through his mind quickly, a mile a minute. "I think she might have a hangover too, since she went drinking with sis. I'll get her some medicine and then maybe she'll treat me like an adult, right?"

He seemed convinced that doing thoughtful things for this woman would get her to treat him like an adult, when in reality, Kasamatsu knew she'd just think of Kise as a cute, devoted puppy. However, unwilling to make Kise unhappy when he seemed so motivated, like he did when trying to become friends with most people, he slapped Kise's back and said, "Good luck." _Even though you probably won't get anywhere with her_, he added mentally.

Kise gave him a huge, sunny grin. "I'll get her the best medication. I think I'll make her and my sister some hangover soup too!" He seemed to drift off into his own world, thinking about what he would make, when he would make it, and thoughts of Miyakigawa Suzume treating him like an actual adult, not calling him kid or Ryouta-chan. He knew that Aika would invite her over more often, and he didn't want her to treat him like a child every single time. Kise heard something then, loud cheers from the bleachers. When he looked over, he saw all his fans there, watching him with rosy blushes on their faces and wide eyes, and shy fidgeting that he thought of as sort of cute, like adorable woodland creatures. But somehow, even though he wanted Miyagawa to treat him like an adult, at least she didn't treat him like a fan would. He thought he had enough of those, didn't really need another. With a smile, he waved at his fans and watched as their blushes took over their entire faces and they watched him with even more passion than they did before. "Thanks for cheering for me, girls!"

"Kise-sama is so wonderful!" they cheered back, swooning over him.

"Just like a kid," Kasamatsu stated, bored. Turning to Kise he said, "Now, hurry up and do what you're supposed to or you won't get home in time to make that hangover soup."

Kise, upon threat, quickly got to doing his drills again and practicing with his fellow teammates, knowing he needed to get back in time to get that medication and make that hangover soup. Then maybe Miyakigawa Suzume would treat him like a responsible adult. The gears turned in his head, this way and that, as he thought about the many ways to gain her favour and become friends with her. After all, he sort of did still owe her since she took his sister home safe. He needed to apologize for Aika's recklessness that night at the karaoke bar, drinking so much and putting her own safety on the hands of a complete stranger.

* * *

When Suzume woke up, she knew that it was in the very, very late afternoon. Her head pounded both from a lack of sleep, and from the alcohol she consumed from the night before, regardless of the fact that she hadn't even been intoxicated. Her mouth felt as dry as paper, and her tongue, uncomfortably heavy. Opening her eyes, and sitting up on the couch slowly, she stretched and groaned. Probably the only one who got a decent sleep the night before, was Aika, the girl that Suzume and the inebriated one's pretty boy brother spent the whole night taking care of. She missed her university classes for the day, rather unfortunate, but knew it couldn't be helped. At least she really didn't have to go, unlike Aika's brother who couldn't miss high school.

"Ah, you're up, Miyakigawa-senpai."

Looking around exhaustedly, she saw Aika's brother, Ryouta, fixing up something in the kitchen. With a wide smile, he brought the bowl of what she assumed was soup, to her, looking rather proud of himself. Setting it on the coffee table, he walked to the kitchen again and retrieved a small bag, putting it beside the soup. He looked a little nervous when he glanced at her, but smiled brightly, reminding Suzume ever so much of a puppy. She still found it curious that she knew his face from somewhere. What magazine did he model for? She never checked out magazines really and didn't really know the names of models. Wracking her mind for information, she wondered if her roommate or somebody read a magazine that she would have recognized his face from.

"Here, drink it and you'll feel a lot better. I also got you some pain relievers," Kise told her. He passed the bowl directly into her hands. Then, sheepishly, he muttered, before heading back into the kitchen, "I forgot water…" Coming back with a glass of full water, he also passed that to her, and opened up the bottle of pills, dropping two in her palm. "Your head probably hurts a lot, partially from taking care of Aika. Sorry she can be really reckless sometimes." He sat down next to her on the couch and rested his chin on his hand, arm supported by the couch's armrest.

Looking at him, he really did look like a model – what with the unnaturally pretty features and the nice form, and she recognized that from the first time she saw him, but what did surprise was his heart. He seemed genuine and thoughtful for making soup for her and getting pills too. He let out a huge sigh then, and he wondered really only exhaustion plagued him. Something else ate at him, and he really didn't hide it well.

"Thanks for the soup and the pills, kid. And trust me, she isn't the worst I've seen," Suzume told him with a small grimace, thinking of her own roommate getting drunk and puking on their area rug. He gave her one in return, although it seemed a bit forced. "Kid, tell me what's eating you. I can't promise I can help, but at least you can get it off your shoulders. If it's embarrassing," she continued, facing him with a serious look on her face, "then take comfort in the fact that I share absolutely no mutual friends with you. And that I'm a complete stranger to you too. There's something interesting about spilling your secrets to a stranger, right?"

"I'll tell you what's up if you tell me one embarrassing thing about you," Kise proposed slyly. "That way you can spill a secret to a stranger too." He expected her to look at least a little reluctant or perturbed by that, but she didn't at all.

"Alright, even though I'm a pretty boring person," Suzume agreed, then looking at him to continue with his own problem. "Promise though, this'll make you feel better."

Kise grinned weakly. "I failed my biology test." Fiddling with his fingers a little he continued, "I suck at most subjects that aren't English and I'm good at sports, but things like academics are a little…" he shrugged. "Still," he continued, looking at her sheepishly, "I'd thought I would have at least passed this one."

Taking a spoon full of soup and marveling at the taste for a moment, she added, "Seems like you're halfway decent at cooking, you know." He smiled at her in reply and gestured she take some pain pills as well, which she did. Suzume, then began to talk, "Everyone has their talents, things they're good at and things they're bad at." She scrutinized him for a moment, making him look incredibly uncomfortable. "Ah, you're one of those Generation of Miracles whiz kids, huh? Good at basketball – that's your talent." She realized it then, where she'd been seeing him, in that random Zunon Boy magazine her roommate's little sister liked to read. He slowly nodded, not sure what she was getting at. "My roommate's little sister is a huge fan of yours." Pausing for a moment, she continued, "Anyway, point is, you can't expect everything to go well for you all the time. I learned that the hard way. How much did you fail by anyway?"

Reaching for his schoolbag, he pulled out the test, almost ashamedly passing it to her. He really didn't want her to know that his grades were so deplorable. "Well, it's a little bad."

"I can see that," Suzume said, clucking her tongue. "I can see all your mistakes too." Laughing a little she added, "Kid, it's the pancreas that secretes insulin, not the brain!" And then laughing even more, she continued, "The appendix doesn't help digest food, Ryouta-chan, it's a vestigial organ!" Kise doubted she could breathe at all when she saw the percentage marked on the first page. "13%? Really? Oh my god you really failed!"

"You're so mean! Is that supposed to make me feel better," Kise responded, frowning noticeably. Sighing, he said, "After all the nice things I did for you too," gesturing to the pain pills and the soup.

Calming down and regaining composure, she coughed, a little embarrassed, and ruffled his hair, much to his both surprise and annoyance when he realized that she treated him like a kid again. "Sorry, kid, it was just too funny. But look, right, you feel better about it already. I can see the smile on your face." Pinching his cheeks a little and chuckling when he slapped away her hand, she mentioned, "You have a good thing to laugh about now. And you can always do better next time. I have a feeling you slacked off or something for this result, didn't you?" He didn't deny it, so she knew that her assumption was correct. "Grades aren't everything either. You have a good head on your shoulders and you're thoughtful for bringing me all this stuff to help me recover. And you didn't get offended when I laughed at you." When she saw the frown on his face, Suzume smirked and said, "I was laughing _at_ you, not with you, don't get me wrong." When he looked affronted and about to respond, she held his speech with a hand telling him to stop. Continuing, with a soft smile she told him, "You're not just an airheaded model you know. You've got your own talents just like everyone else. Hell, you'd probably laugh at me if I ever tried to play basketball."

Kise did feel a little better, suddenly. That failing grade didn't seem so bad to him. Usually he would only care for a day and then go back to doing what he usually did, but Suzume relieved that feeling of grief much quicker. And the shame he'd feel reporting that to his parents. "Probably," he joked, imagining someone like her trying to shoot in a three pointer. "But I don't think you'd try."

"Well, let me tell you one of my secrets," Suzume commented. "I did try, back in high school Phys-ed. And you know what happened?" He shook his head, and looked upon her in anticipation. Whispering almost conspiratorially, she said, "I accidentally passed the ball and it was way too strong a pass, and you know where it hit? My teacher's nuts. He was in pain for a little while, on the floor actually. And whenever basketball time came around, he always made some excuse for me to run the attendance to the office or something to get me out of the room."

And then Kise found it his turn to laugh until he'd turn blue at that thought. He didn't even know how she managed it, but just the accident itself seemed unheard of. "Seriously?" he asked, and she nodded, which made him laugh even more. And Suzume looked upon him, as if expecting it. And he didn't know what this woman did exactly, but he felt his exhaustion almost melt away into the air and his shame at getting a bad score morph into determination to do better next time, like she said.

Stretching like a cat, Suzume got up off the couch and said, "I'll probably change and get back home now." Thinking for a minute she grabbed Kise's phone off the coffee table, much to his confusion, and coolly entered in her digits. Showing him the screen, she said, "Message me if you have anything you want to talk about. I'd be happy if you'd save me from doing my papers. And something tells me people don't just listen to you often. Oh," she paused, turning around then while at the entrance of the room, "and fix those grades. I may have been laughing, but 13% really sucks."

She left without another word then, and Kise looked at his phone. He laughed and smiled when he saw the contact 'Worst Basketball Player Ever' entered. Maybe everyone did have some things they were good at and others they weren't. Miyakigawa Suzume proved that just fine.

* * *

_Word Count: 3 992_


	2. It's Like Reading

**A Penny for Your Thoughts**

_So, another chapter which provides a lot more analysis into this new life coach like situation with Kise, along with gaining more insight into Kise's problems. Also some subtle hints to Suzume's past. Hope you enjoy. Tell me what you think. I don't bite. Also, never count on me to update this fast. I must have been on a roll, because this hardly ever happens. Don't hate me.  
_

* * *

**Chapter II - It's Like Reading**

"I'm Sasaki Tomomi from class 1-A. Kise-san, I like you and… and I'd really love to become your girlfriend."

Kise looked at the girl in front of him rather blankly. Confessions grew into a daily thing for him, receiving notes in his shoe locker and having to meet girls outside to spill their feelings for him, their full and honest feelings. He'd normally smile and reject them, with his full and honest feelings, giving them the play-by-play, 'it's me, not you' spiel. But now, it weighed heavily on his mind.

It had been a week since Miyakigawa Suzume left that day after entering her number into his phone, telling him to talk if he needed it, but he didn't talk to her. To be honest, he didn't want to whine to her, to seem weak and vulnerable, and especially about such a petty problem. And he didn't know where to start with her, and how she would actually take it if he did message her. She might have seemed open, but Miyakigawa could have just simply told him to shut up if he did message her. Rejection for friendship scared him just a little.

All the girls confessing to him increased, probably wanting to snatch him up before Christmas. And honestly, he didn't like hurting people's feelings, but he didn't think their confessions ever were really honest.

"What do you like about me?" Kise asked this time, eying the girl in front of him – dark hair, innocent looking, simple and kind of cute. She looked nervous. And he wondered, what about him did she really like if she hadn't even exchanged a couple words with him.

"Ah… I… I think you'd be the perfect boyfriend. You're talented, you're good looking… and you always are so cheerful I can't help but admire you. I always buy Zunon Boy because of you," she said shyly, looking up at him through her lashes.

Kise knew she buttered it up quite a bit. He bit his lip and answered, "I'm sorry. I don't think I can measure up to your standards, Tomomi-san. I can't return your feelings. You're a pretty girl; you'll find a much better boyfriend than me."

She buttered it up and she only liked his appearance, his skills at basketball, all those aspects which didn't matter at all in a relationship. She liked him physically, but she didn't exchange even a few words with him to understand how annoying he could be sometimes – didn't understand that he got a 13% on the last biology test, didn't understand anything about him really. It hurt more than he thought it would, to finally hear it honestly from one of his fans. He wanted to become friends with them all, but apparently his efforts and smiles never counted for much – being cheerful lay on the backburner next to his job as a model.

Tears filled her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, as almost clumsily, she complained, "H-how can anyone get close to you, Kise-san? All the girls say that a normal girl will never be enough for you and I wanted to confess and tell you my feelings, but you're just brushing them aside! I don't want another boyfriend, I want _you_!" Tomomi looked heartbroken and he knew he hurt someone's feelings again. He felt a little bad. "So, to be with you, does someone to have to be a curvy model, a super gorgeous girl who's also just as talented as the Generation of Miracles when it comes to basketball, Kise Ryouta-_sama_? Is that it? No one here can match up to that!" With that, tears spilling down her flushed cheeks, she ran down the deserted hallway, not even giving him a chance to answer.

"When did I ever say I _wanted_ a perfect girl? You were pretty enough…" Kise mumbled distractedly. Sighing, he prepared to go to practice with Kasamatsu.

That right then, left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth and he didn't like it. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he looked at the contact, 'Worst Basketball Player Ever' for a moment, and wondered if this new sense of self doubt that plagued him was a good enough reason to talk to Miyakigawa-senpai.

* * *

Looking at her laptop screen dully after finishing most of her psych paper, Suzume felt unbearably tired. And her back was stiff after sitting with a bad posture for so long. Deciding to grab a snack then, and enjoy the fact that she had the apartment to herself for the moment, she stepped out of her room and into the kitchen to set something up.

Her roommate, an unbearably ditzy girl who went out drinking every single night, sometimes to bring men home that Suzume was left to kick out in the morning, hadn't come home from her late night escapades the night before. Her little sister seemed a nice enough girl, but the woman she lived with, not really. Suzume could only comment on the deceptiveness of appearances then, because she looked well enough when they first met. They rented out this two bedroom together, a decently sized place with some nice stainless steel appliances, hardwood, and cream couches paired with dark wood tables and chairs. They decided on the soft green colour for the walls, and decorated it with art they both created and shopped for alike. But little did she know that the roommate would be a terrible, terrible person to live with.

The men she invited over, so constantly there, just seemed to account for the space and needs of a second roommate, unfortunately.

Deciding on some cabbage rolls, Suzume moved to get the leaves off the cabbages, then cut the giant veins out of them so she could roll them. Unfortunately for her, her constant moaning and groaning over her crappy roommate coupled with a knife, led to a cut on her finger.

"Shit." The cut stung and blood dribbled form the thin slice on her index finger. Putting it under some cool water and grabbing a band-aid from the cupboard above the sink in the washroom, she wrapped it around her finger and sighed. "Not what I was hoping for today," she mumbled.

Then, her phone rang, surprising her. Walking over to the counter where she placed it, Suzume took a glance at her called ID and didn't recognize the number. Shrugging, she tapped the screen to answer the call and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"_Ah, Miyakigawa-senpai… it's Kise from last week,"_ the voice on the other end said a little reluctantly. _"If you remember…"_

"Ah, Mr. 13%-in-biology, is it?" Suzume could almost _feel_ his frown on the other end of the line. So, the kid finally decided to call her after one week. Settling down on one of the couches, she prepared to give him undivided attention for whatever he had to say. "Kid, with what we went through, I doubt I'd forget. That vomit pretty much bonded us for life," Suzume joked. She heard his laughter on the other end of the line. Furrowing her brow a little, she did noticed he sounded a little bothered. "So, what's eating you, kid? You should have called me a while ago at the first sign of it bothering you. I don't bite."

He paused for a moment and then started with, _"It's kind of hard to say over the phone… and I didn't know if you were the type to bite or not. I didn't want to be yelled at for calling you,"_ he told her a little too honestly with a small smile, she knew.

Looking over at her incomplete with-no-filling cabbage rolls, and the cut on her finger, she snorted. "Kid, you have so little faith in me. I don't look that scary, do I?"

"_Of course not, Miyakigawa-senpai!" _Kise answered a little too brightly.

_What a liar, _Suzume thought, biting back a grin. "Tell you what, Ryouta-chan. Hard to tell me over the phone? Meet me at…" She thought for a moment of different places she could meet him at. "Meet me at that café, Bonbon, near Kaijou. I'm assuming you go there since it's the closest high school to your place, right?" She needed something to eat too, so going to a café seemed the obvious choice. Cabbage rolls definitely didn't agree with her right now if they caused her to get injured. _Well, screw you, cabbage rolls, who said I needed you_? she thought a little bitterly_. I can get my own professionally made food_. Suzume glared at the cabbage in disdain. "I'll pay for you too, so just… splurge and tell me about your issues, okay, kid?"

"Alright," he answered a little mischievously, "If your wallet can handle it."

"Before my wallet, consider the condition of your waistline, kid," Suzume shot back. She took a glance at the clock on the wall and said, "I'll meet you there in thirty or so minutes."

"Alright then, Miyakigawa-senpai. And don't worry, my waistline will be fine. You _should_ be more worried about your wallet," Kise told her, matter-of-fact, and then hung up the phone without waiting for her reply at all.

Pulling the phone away from her ear, she laughed heartily. "Cheeky kid…"

Perhaps she would buy him the entire menu then, if not for anything else, then interesting banter he provided her with. But she did wonder what he called her up for. Suzume felt content that he trusted her enough as a good enough person to listen to his problems. As she suspected, she doubted anyone listened to him often enough. Sometimes, everyone needed someone to listen to them. Suzume looked at one contact in her phone, a little melancholic, before pulling on her jacket and her shoes.

* * *

Kise couldn't believe Miyakigawa Suzume's generosity when she said that food was on her. Of course, he definitely had enough money to spare with his modelling career, and from his family in general being slightly more well-off, but still, someone treating him was a nice treat. He wondered where he would start with telling her about what he found himself near brooding about earlier on in the day. Somehow, he found it difficult to get the words out. Even so, he suspected a day out would get his mind off of things, send his mind to happier places for a little while rather than the sea of self-doubt that it had drowned itself in earlier without the slightest bit of treading water.

The café that Suzume mentioned, Kise visited before – a nice place only a few minutes from Kaijou, with a casual interior and friendly service, and a place that students often visited. Their sweets were particularly tantalizing, and Kise knew that if anyone would love it, then Murasakibara would.

He saw Suzume at the entrance, taking a drag of a cigarette, much to his surprise. When he approached her he greeted cheerily, "Hey, Miyakigawa-senpai! You smoke?"

She reached the end of her cigarette, and pulled it out of her mouth, throwing it on the ground and stepping on it. "It's a bad habit. Perhaps I shouldn't have been doing it where easily impressionable kids could see me," Suzume teased him to gently deflect the subject. Perhaps she would tell him someday during their exchange of secrets, why she started in the first place.

Of course, Kise knew that she carefully evaded the subject, skillfully so. He didn't push it if it was painful for her to talk about. The last thing he wanted would be for his listener to get angry at him, leave, and never want to be his friend again. "You're so mean, I'm not a kid," he uttered predictably, if only to play along.

"You _are_ a kid." She chuckled at his pout and only realized then that he reminded her more and more of a puppy. Perhaps a show dog, judging by all the admiring glances he got on the street even now. Looking serious, she continued, "Now, you ready to get fat, Ryouta-chan? I've heard this place has some pretty delicious Mont Blanc and I've been dying to try it ever since someone told me about it."

"Eh, Mont Blanc? Is that your favourite dessert, senpai?" Kise asked curiously, as he held the door open for her and they both walked in.

They both chose a table in the far corner, near the window so they could observe the people walking outside. Suzume noticed then just how many people looked like students in this place, how many with actual uniforms, and many who seemed about that age. They all seemed to know who Kise was, and to her, it felt like a celebrity walking into a store. Trying to ignore the glances on her for walking beside him, she sat down across from the happily smiling boy, seemingly used to all the attention, shimmering like a diamond amongst regular people.

"Mm, I really like Mont Blanc. Especially when there's pumpkin instead of chestnut. But I like most desserts too," Suzume explained, looking at him for a moment with a small smile. "So, what's your favourite dessert?"

"Tiramisu," he replied without skipping a beat. "It's delicious." He noticed then, the band-aid on her finger when she placed her hand on the table. He asked, "What happened to your finger?"

"Cut it while trying to make cabbage rolls," Suzume replied with a scoff. "I swear that knife hates me. I never got this many cuts before I got it. But my exhaustion might also be to blame."

When Kise looked at her then, he saw the bags under her eyes and how pale she seemed. "Stayed up all night doing work?" he asked, to which she nodded. "Get a good night sleep tonight," he told her sympathetically. It must have sucked to not have a good night's sleep again, when the week before she must have been suffering due to Aika. He also imagined university students didn't get much sleep. She looked like death, to put it simply. The loud yawn that she released only a little while after didn't help with that comment. "Does that mean this is only an excuse so you can have lunch?" he inquired with a laugh.

"Mostly, but I also wanted to listen to you, kid, so don't get all disappointed on me." Suzume flicked him on the forehead and chuckled when he looked a little annoyed.

The waitress came over soon enough and, unsurprisingly, she recognized Kise. With a flush on her face and a strange sort of fidgeting that Suzume could only compare to an odd, tribal dance, she began to speak, "O-oh, K-kise-san! I didn't know you came here. I'm from Kaijou too! C-class 2-C Tanaka Ayane! I admire you a lot! You're so handsome and good at basketball!"

Suzume watched with a bored look on her face as the girl attempted to get him to acknowledge her with her flattery. She also noticed the ever so subtle hurt as Kise began to sparkle with that fake charisma of his. Watching him carefully as the events unfolded, she thought that would be better to figure out his issue rather than him stating it outright.

"Ah really, that's nice! I'm glad I have a lot of fans in Kaijou," Kise answered her easily. Suddenly, the faces of all the other girls who he rejected came to mind, faded and fuzzy, merging into each other in his mind like some sort of optical illusion telling him they'd been the same person all along, including Sasaki Tomomi. His basketball was natural to him, and so was his ability to model, and so he didn't see why people should respect him for that if anything. He didn't like it at all. He thought people should have respected him for being a nice person, or something like that. "Okay then, Tanaka-chan, can I start off with a lychee bubble tea and a Tiramisu then?" He looked over to Suzume, who observed his situation, not with a smirk like he expected, but with a blank look on her face, almost analyzing him. Kise thought that she was trying to see his reaction to it, and his defensive mechanism to that was always to hide it. Hastily, he said, "What would you like, Miyakigawa-senpai?

The girl's attention focused on the previously invisible-to-her woman. "Are you his girlfriend?" she asked slowly, although she really didn't believe it herself. She didn't think Kise would ever go for an older looking, almost frumpy looking woman.

"Not that it's any of your business, but no," Suzume drawled. At the girl's relieved sigh and the almost exhausted expression on Kise's face, she continued, "So I'll get the seafood noodles and some coke, please." The woman nodded and busily collected their menus before heading off. Before she walked away completely Suzume said, "You know, flattery like that isn't going to help you get into someone's good books. You have to know them for them."

"What do you know, sloppy woman?" she heard the girl mutter under her breath. "You're not his girlfriend either."

Suzume shrugged and understood that she at least tried to turn the girl into an overall better human being. Until the food came back, Kise looked a little dejected, and Suzume understood from the little display that girls like that were eating at him – and supposed that was why he wanted to talk to her today. "Are girls like that your issue, kid?" She leaned her chin on her hand and gave him her attention, gesturing then for him to speak.

Kise nodded and then with a sheepish grin said, "I know I shouldn't be sad at all. It seems like a stupid problem…" He paused and then continued, "This girl confessed to me today, it's been happening pretty often, but today, I asked for the first time, _why?_ And she said the same thing as this girl too, I'm handsome and perfect and never even bothered to mention who I am. And when I rejected her she told me that a normal girl could never get close to me and called me shallow pretty much… isn't that stupid?" He didn't want her to tell him that she found it a stupid problem, even though he knew full well that other people had better things to worry about. Something stupid like having to reject people constantly felt a little petty in comparison, a little insignificant. But he couldn't help but look down on those people who respected him for no other reason at all.

"Kid, get off your high horse," Suzume told him sharply, surprising him greatly.

The food came back shortly after, and the waitress looked from one of them to the other almost nervously at the tension, before leaving soon after.

Taking a small bite of his Tiramisu, Kise started, "What-" He grew a little hurt that she decided to tell him that after he confided in her. But somewhat hoping to hear what she thought, he forced himself not to let the sting in his heart hurt too much.

Suzume held up her hand and noticed that he looked a little hurt. "Chill out and let me explain, kid, before you start crying on me. And," she continued with a serious look on her face, "if you expect me to coddle you, you've got the wrong person." Sighing a bit, he nodded and gestured for her to continue. "The only reason you find this an issue is because to some extent, you believe you're superior to everyone else – because you're a whiz kid at basketball and because you've got looks. It's to the point where you're sensitive to compliments, kid."

Distracting himself with the wonderful taste of the Tiramisu for a moment, deflecting the hurt of her harsh words, he stopped. Then, he complained, "I don't think I'm superior, I don't want people to praise things natural to me… and to call me shallow when I never asked for a perfect girl." He didn't understand her backwards logic. To him, it seemed like a math equation, and he always sucked at any sort of algebra and trigonometry, the numbers and symbols floating around his head in a terrible concoction he didn't even want to know the contents of.

"To say something is natural to you is to say that you require no improvement, Ryouta-chan, so you basically acknowledged your superiority. That's not a good thing." Suzume clucked her tongue and then ate a forkful of her seafood noodles. She chose a nice place today, she decided. "You go through this thought process; girl confesses to you, saying you're a hunk or whatever else you high school kids call each other, and you think, '_well I know that already, why bother telling me,' _right? And then you think, _'well I never asked for a perfect girl, she's bound to be less perfect than me,'_ right? The way you're going about it is condescending. It's good that you acknowledge other people's flaws, but only if you acknowledge your own. That's why that little bird said that a normal girl couldn't get close to you, because you hold them at arm's length."

Kise didn't want to acknowledge her assessment as correct (but he did acknowledge it as embarrassing, since she sounded about eighty when she said 'hunk') even though he knew full well its correctness, and judging by the sly smile on her face, she knew it too. "I suppose I do kind of hold them at arm's length…" He looked at his food and then up at her face, slowly saying, "But it's not like I want to, I just want them to say something different for once."

Suzume leaned across the table and ruffled his hair. With a grin she replied, "So that they'll see your personality. I understand that too, kid, don't get me wrong, I don't think you're a terrible person. You're a good person, just with a big ego I have to knock down a few pegs. You have your flaws too, you understand that, right?" Kise nodded with a small smile. "Good, just making sure. You have to acknowledge them, because you have them – your bad grades, for one, and your arrogance, two main things I think." Suzume looked at him then and smiled a little. "Next time someone confesses to you and if she reacts badly to your rejection, ignore it. Learn to take a compliment." Thinking up another scenario for him to learn off of, she settled with, "Okay, imagine this – what if I was a model and a basketball king, and I… I don't know, surgically grafted your face onto mine or something. Pretty much, if I looked like you. But with my personality, do you think I'd be just as popular? Come on, don't be shy – I don't take offense." She looked at his reluctance to an answer and bit back a laugh. Suzume loved to see him squirm.

"Of course, Miyakigawa-senpai!" Kise said with a wide smile. She just glared at him and forced him to be honest. "So mean, I was trying to be nice!" he whined, trying to stall. He never knew how hard he found it to behave honestly. Perhaps whenever he rejected, he never rejected with his full and honest feelings either. He'd been just as bad as them all this time. "Fine… I don't think you would, not because you're not a nice person, because you are…" He settled for the right and least offensive words. "Sometimes you seem a little unapproachable and you're not… very typical?" It sounded more like a question to him but those were the only words he could come up with to describe her. "And you're blunt and a little too honest…" he finished with.

"Ryouta-chan, I'm disappointed in you. Is that all you can come up with?" she teased, and laughed when he looked a bit disgruntled at her treatment of him. "My personality would be my flaw. I wouldn't get that many confessions either. Which means, to some extent, your fans acknowledge your cheerful personality, just not fully, kid. Don't sweat it though," she continued in a nonchalant fashion, "at least you're not me."

"Actually, being you wouldn't be so bad," Kise complimented. Finishing up his cake and then taking a sip of his bubble tea, he continued, "You may not make a good model, or a basketball player, but you make a good therapist, right?"

"The flattery is killing me, kid. Are you trying to bribe me into spending more on you," Suzume replied, quirking an eyebrow suspiciously. But really, it felt nice for him to acknowledge her like this, and say that she did in fact do a job well done and make him feel better, as well as bring him down a couple notches. Kise Ryouta seemed a decent person, humourous to get riled up, mostly because he seemed about to cry like a kid and not ready to yell back at her.

"I think one cake's good for now," Kise replied with a laugh. "But next time, I'll treat you, okay? You have my number now too. You can call me for anything as well, I don't bite," he joked, referring back to their previous conversation.

So with that, she paid for both of them (after ordering her delicious Mont Blanc, which she knew that she'd request Kise to spend a lot of money on) and they walked out of the store together. Suzume turned to him and with a wide grin, said, "I'll hold you to it. Unlike you, I don't have to watch my waistline."

"Order as much as you want. I have to thank you after all," Kise told her without any hesitance. "Call me up, then."

"I assume today made you feel better then?" Kise nodded in reply to her. To which she said, "Alright, that's good then. I'll call you up or you call me up – and we'll decide where else we can meet, alright, kid?" Suzume then, with a short nod of farewell, walked in the direction to her home, hoping to God that her roommate didn't decide to bring another man home.

Kise nodded and then with a laugh, called, "It's a date then, Miyakigawa-senpai. I won't reject you with my giant superiority complex so you don't need to worry!"

"Real funny, kid," Suzume replied, not turning around at all. "Real funny."

But suddenly, she didn't need to think about her problems either. She felt satisfied just with the fact that she helped him out with his. Suddenly she didn't taste the strangely alluring fumes of the cigarette on her breath. Suddenly, she didn't need to stare idly at that contact on her phone. The bitter aftertaste on her tongue disappeared, since she at least brought down Kise's sky high ego and helped him somewhat, figure out who he was.

And that let her push her own problems under the rug for a little while.

"Kids need that time of self-exploration…" she mumbled to herself, looking up at the sky then. With a laugh, Suzume concluded, "I think I still need time for self-exploration. Does that mean I'm just as much a kid as you, Ryouta-chan?"

The thought made her shake with laughter, since she knew she understood a lot about other people, but barely learned anything about herself in the past four years. Inside, Suzume didn't even know if people would consider her just as much a kid as Kise. Sometimes, she felt like she put up a front for the sake of other people and didn't know if she spouted complete bullshit that they tried to make sense of. Really, how could she analyze other people so well if she couldn't solve the problems in her own life?

How could she understand just about everyone as well as reading a book, and enough to make Kise understand himself? Somehow, Suzume wished that someone did that to her, gave her a puzzle that she'd have to work through slowly like a mouse through a maze, only to find the cheese at the end.

Shaking her head, she prepared to deal with her roommate – get back to reality and things that actually mattered. Like, cleaning up those cabbages unfortunately. _Stupid cabbages, _she thought miserably.

* * *

_Words: 4 759_


	3. Those Bad Memories

**A Penny for Your Thoughts**

_Written by Whimsical Symphony_

_Third chapter, I'm glad you guys are digging it. This chapter has more about Suzume's past which some of you are curious about. Also has more Kise and Suzume. Next chapter or the chapter after is when I plan on introducing Kuroko, so you can look forward to that. Tell me what you think, I don't bite!_

* * *

**Chapter III - Those Bad Memories**

Kise didn't think much of it when his phone rang one day. He was working on an essay he had no idea how to finish – some essay where he didn't even recognize what exactly he was arguing. He welcomed any sort of distraction from that.

But the sun already set and stars littered the sky, and when he saw that the number on his caller ID was Miyakigawa Suzume, he wondered what she wanted from him at this time. He looked at the clock and noted the time as 10:30PM. Surely she didn't need to talk to him this late. If she wanted to set up the friendly meet up they had planned for last time, she only needed to call the next day. Kise didn't mind picking up the phone for Suzume, even if she made him discover things about himself he hadn't even bothered to consider.

She must have been proud that she knocked him down a couple notches. Really, he thought fondly, she reminded him of Kasamatsu with the way she scolded him. It made him laugh, and surprisingly, talking about his problems, no matter how petty, made him feel a bit better when he got a reality check. And Suzume didn't judge him for his shallow problem of _girls. _

Even made the analogy that she wouldn't get as many fans, even if she got his face skin grafted onto hers. Kise laughed, but thought that it would have been perfect horror movie material when he thought about it. He shuddered in disgust. He knew she meant that if she looked like him in entirety, but he couldn't help but picture his face like a mask, pasted on her face, and so he still had a woman's body.

His face wouldn't look appealing in that condition, no, _not even_ his face.

"Hey, Miyakigawa-senpai, what's up?" Kise answered cheerily into the phone, leaning back in the computer chair in his room.

"Oh my God, he picked up!" screeched a voice excitedly. Kise, shocked, didn't know what to think, especially since this voice didn't sound at all like Suzume.

"Miyakigawa-senpai?" Kise asked again, but the voice on the other end just tittered and laughed and seemed oh so happy to talk to him.

No, he had to acknowledge his own flaws too. He nodded determinedly – he couldn't look down on her just because this random woman found him attractive, because it _wasn't _natural for him. Even though he didn't remember the last time he got a zit or some other facial blemish.

Suddenly, he grew worried. What if something happened to her? Forcing himself to remain calm, he breathed. He didn't imagine a ruffian looking girl like her would ever land herself in a tough situation anyway. She'd beat up her captors.

"Makino, get off the phone – give it to me-" another voice complained loudly, and that voice, he recognized as Suzume's.

"B-but Kise-san!"

"Shut up, Makino. Why're you even using my phone! Get out of my room!"

And he heard them bicker with one another for a long time and heard a door slam loudly before he finally heard Suzume's voice on the line again. "Sorry, my roommate for some reason found your number on my phone… and she really likes pretty boys. Now," she continued, a bit sly, "I know you're eager to hook a cougar, but I'd suggest you stay away from a man eater like her. I wouldn't want my _wittle Ryouta-chan _to be heartbroken." She laughed and Kise only could appreciate her sense of humour, despite the fact that it was at his expense.

"I'm not interested in relationships now anyway," Kise replied to her honestly. "Especially since what you said made me learn more about myself. I think… if I'm with someone else and I have to spend time on them, then I'll know less about myself. The girls I've been with made me feel like I had to know myself less and act a certain way." Those girls certainly did, and he supposed it did more harm to humour them and go out with them, kiss them, hold them, be the perfect boyfriend, than it did good. He sounded like a blithering fool when he heard himself speak. Somehow, he knew that he didn't have a way with words like Suzume. He struggled to explain what he needed to. "You know how they say that when you're with someone, your identity gets defined by them? That happens to me, I think." And with a sheepish grin that she couldn't see, he commented, "Miyakigawa-senpai, I have enough problems with my identity, don't you think?"

"Very wise, young Padawan," Suzume replied to him with true pride in her voice. Kise wondered if she'd watched Star Wars earlier on in the day to make a reference like that. He found it kind of funny, regardless. "It's good not to jump into things like that. It's also good that you've recognized your mistakes about how you dealt with girls previously, kid," she explained. Kise imagined the knowing smile on her lips, almost taunting him, telling him she knew it all along – yet he couldn't fault her for it. Somehow, he found it both exhilarating and addictive to learn about himself, and not in a narcissistic sense, but to actually be self-aware. He knew he must have known all of it, but just the fact that it remained hidden from him was frustrating. Kise wondered how well Suzume knew herself. "You're learning more about yourself. When you know enough, you can be your own person without worrying about someone else kicking you out of the spotlight, kid."

"Young Padawan?" he questioned, chuckling. "Watching Star Wars? I'm glad you're proud of me, senpai!" he finished in a tone often used by students to suck up to their teachers in class. He remembered Midorima getting pissed off at this tone of his quite a bit. Now that he thought about it, Momoi seemed the only one not willing to get annoyed by his cheerful demeanor and all the annoyances he brought.

"They were playing it on TV, kid. I was watching one of them for the last couple hours. Today's my essay's-finished-do-no-work day. I'm relaxing like you high school kiddies do, with popcorn, pop and my ass on the couch," Suzume drawled. "What about you, kid? It's 10:30, shouldn't kiddies like you be in bed?"

"I'm not a kid," Kise complained. He looked at the bulk of the essay he wrote and knew very well how crappy it was. "I was writing an essay but I know that it's bad…" he admitted without an ounce of shame.

"Crappier than 13%?" Suzume asked, bringing up that one grade once again.

"I don't know… probably better. I'm better at writing than I am at science related subjects at least," Kise replied. He imagined how much fun she had watching Star Wars while he toiled over a paper he wanted to pull his hair out over. What he would give to do something fun or go to sleep without any worries. "But this isn't working out too well," he admitted. "I don't know what I was thinking." He grimaced when he looked at his thesis.

Suzume remained silent for a moment and then, much to his surprise, offered, "I'll text you my e-mail. Send it over here and I'll edit it. When's it due?"

"Ah! Thanks, senpai! You're so kind," Kise gushed. Tapping his fingers on the keyboard for a moment, he replied, "Tomorrow," with little to no shame.

He could just about hear the exasperation in her voice. "You're grating on my nerves, kid." He muttered a small apology and she continued, "Catch some sleep and I'll send this over in a couple hours. It's probably _that bad_, Ryouta-chan." She paused for a moment and then continued in an authoritative tone, "Listen up, you are going to get some sleep for two hours and then call me. I'll have your edited version by then – you fix what I want you to fix, and you send me your final copy. I'll look it over then. You'll be sacrificing sleep for this, but so will I, kid, and I won't stand for your shitty 13%'s."

"Okay, Miyakigawa-senpai," he uttered resignedly. "I'll work really hard and I won't get a 13%. Thanks for helping." And really, even if he did hate working, Suzume's help pleased him. He never knew where he had gotten the luck to have such wonderful upperclassmen like Kasamatsu and Suzume.

* * *

"Who the hell puts a quote after another quote without explaining the first one?" Suzume muttered with exasperation as she looked at Kise's horrible work showing up on her laptop screen. She relocated to their common living space so she could correct Kise's work while watching Star Wars. Sighing, she typed in the corrections he needed to make, and then took a large gulp of her coffee. Glumly, she looked at the movie playing on the television screen. "Anakin, don't fall for it – Palpatine's lying." But then seeing how easily he fell for it, Suzume shook her head. "Padmé won't be proud of you, buddy."

"Why are you watching this crap?" Makino muttered with disgust. "And how did you manage to get a model's attention?" She touched her face lovingly, and with barely disguised vanity. "I'm sure he's dying to know what I look like!"

Suzume forgot to mention to Kise that while her roommate's sister was a huge Kise fan, so was the roommate herself… although that love extended to any beautiful man. "Makino, he wouldn't love to see you, trust me. You grate on my nerves, you'll probably grate on the kid's nerves too."

"You're just jealous," she quipped, "that I have men who like me and you haven't gotten laid in the longest time."

"Trust me, sleeping with a bunch of people you hardly know isn't a great achievement," Suzume replied nonchalantly, continuing to watch the depressing Star Wars movie to alleviate her irritation at Kise's mistakes. She looked to her roommate then, a frown on her lips. "Plus, he's just a kid. Smarten up and stop behaving like a horny brat."

"Ugh! You're so irritating!" Makino complained, stomping off to her room with a packet of wheat thins to eat while she worked. _She only works when she has no one to sleep with_, Suzume thought with a snort.

"Master Yoda, I'll make you proud and fix Kise's work so he'll become a good Jedi!" she cheered herself on and began to type at breakneck speed, crossing some things out, and adding other things, and adding stupid little sarcastic comments for her own amusement at his mistakes. Hell, if she didn't put that in, she knew Kise would never believe she'd done her best.

And she wanted Kise to get a good mark on this assignment, since that 13% was nothing but dreadful. _If he gets a grade like that with my help, I might as well call him a lost cause, _Suzume thought with a sigh. Taking another gulp of her coffee, she proceeded to work for the designated time, and stayed awake for the whole night just to help him.

She hoped Kise caught whatever sleep he could under these circumstances. A lack of sleep wasn't good; she knew that well enough.

* * *

Kise wondered how his essay turned out halfway decent – no, even more than that, actually really good. Suzume worked out all the kinks in his essay and looked through it with a fine-toothed comb. He took a couple of hours of sleep here and there, while he waited for her editing, but he knew quite well she'd been awake the entire time, even giving him advice when he was asking for clarification. Suddenly, he felt guilt well up within him from her kind gesture. He wondered how sleep deprived she was now.

So, on the way back from Kaijou after basketball practice, instead of going to see Kuroko like he'd planned – just to bother the phantom sixth man like usual – he called Suzume on her cellphone to see what she was doing. Maybe he wouldn't have to cancel his plans, maybe he would.

When she picked up the phone, she sounded like death. "Hello, kid?" her muffled voice came.

"Eh, are you okay, Miyakigawa-senpai?" he asked concerned. Her nose sounded like it trekked in the Himalayas by itself, and came back pouring as a result. And he didn't even need to know fully that the rest of her was probably the same, pouring snot and sweating like a pig in the sweltering heat.

"Got a fever, kiddo. Should've probably mentioned I have a weak-ass immune system," Suzume told him almost bitterly. "Felt it coming on for the last couple days. Been pumping up on the Vitamin C but it obviously didn't help. Had to miss class today. What'd you call for?"

He felt even more guilty now (especially since she still seemed willing to listen to his petty problems) and mentally apologized to his poor Kurokocchi who wouldn't get to see his best friend in the whole wide world then, and without one more second to waste, he asked, "Where do you live?"

When she answered, bewildered, Kise shut the phone and immediately went to the supermarket to get some supplies. Hell, he would be a terrible, terrible person if he didn't take care of a senpai who made it so that he wouldn't get a 13% again.

* * *

"Hiro, do you or do you not see your own messages? I said I'm sick you asshole," Suzume snapped exasperatedly. "I don't want to talk to you, not now, not ever so quit calling me or I swear on my fucking life you'll regret it."

"Stop acting like such a badass. I know you're not," he replied, just as angry as she. "You're just a scared little girl, but who else do you even have? You're lonely as hell and I know you are; nobody knows you really, not like I do. It'd be better if you just came back quietly."

Suzume remembered the days she spent with him, how much they hurt - she would never forgive someone who threw her to the dogs so easily. With her first taste of freedom, came pain and hurt, nothing more than that. And she left feeling even more confused about herself than when she first entered the fray, the hell known as the real world. He called over and over again, telling her that she better talk to him, better join all of them back when they'd all been together doing terrible things. She didn't want to go back there, back to the place where all of them stood together and thought that whatever they did could ever be harmful at all. She remembered it pretty clearly when she looked at the scar on her stomach, how she'd escaped. The tears fell before she could even help it – bitter, angry tears she had little control over. They stung her eyes and fell without any direction from her.

Shuddering, she didn't bother to listen to any of his excuses and immediately hung up the phone when she heard the doorbell.

Composing herself, she waddled to the door with her huge blanket wrapped around her like a cocoon, sniffling all the while. She opened the door, and then the smiling face of Kise greeted her, holding several shopping bags. "Good evening, Miyakigawa-senpai!" He looked at her face and sent her a sympathetic frown. "You look like death."

"Thanks, kid. That's a nice compliment," Suzume said sarcastically. "Why're you here?"

"Well, I wanted to make it up to you since you edited my essay, so I wanted to take care of you. I brought some soups and stuff… and other ingredients that I can cook with," he rattled off, unaware of the small smile on her lips. "Oh! I also brought medication because I didn't know if you'd taken any." He looked at her and she made sure to look stone cold again. Kise then looked really concerned. "Have you been crying?"

"Of course not, kid. What gave you that idea?" Suzume replied, trying to look genuinely confused and cursing his ability to be strangely observant at times. She opened the door wider for him, gesturing for him to enter. "Come in and make me some soup, kid. Your cooking skills are one thing that don't get you a 13%." Without answering his puzzled look and his look of concern, she walked to the couch and collapsed onto it. Somehow though, when she heard him remove his shoes, then move straight to the kitchen after a quick, _'Of course, Miyakigawa-senpai'_, she didn't know why she felt glad to have him there.

Makino left the house, probably to sleep with someone else, and while she didn't like the girl, she showed her comfort whenever Hiro called or bothered her. And she didn't find it weird to like someone else in the house with her when she found herself feeling just a bit vulnerable, even if she'd never show it.

Kise didn't understand, but at least Suzume heard the home-like sound of someone cooking, and the nice smell of chicken noodle soup wafting from there into her nose. It made her forget all those bad memories which still haunted her no matter how much she changed and tried to run away from it. He always stood there, ready to remind her at a moment's notice.

Suzume didn't even realize when Kise sat down on the couch beside her, a bowl of chicken noodle soup in his hands. "Here, drink it Miyakigawa-senpai." He gave her a cheerful grin and handed it to her, and like the first time they met, she drank it.

"Much better than 13%," she complimented. And it did feel good, relieved her aching throat, would probably help get rid of her fever. It made her feel warmer where only cold and chills permeated her skin.

He remained silent for a moment, uncharacteristically serious, before he spoke. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't. But I wouldn't mind listening to you too, you know? Though I doubt your problems are a lot less stupid," Kise suggested with a worried glance again at her red eyes. "I know you've been crying…"

Suzume didn't know what to answer, how much to tell him, how much to leave out, or whether to tell him at all. "It's… complicated, kid. Don't worry, I've dealt with it enough that nothing can phase me." The lie tasted bitter on her tongue – nothing fazed her? Ha, everything fazed her; and no matter how she wished to become strong, only weakness plagued her.

"Be honest with yourself," he told her with a small smile. Sheepishly, he added, "I'm no therapist, but there's something thrilling about telling your secret to a near stranger, right?" He mirrored what she said when they first met, and then found that perhaps it didn't fit at all. While she remained a near stranger to him, just an upperclassman who looked like a delinquent but had the kindness of someone far softer looking, though she still remained rough around the edges, she knew everything about him without even reading what he had to offer. "That doesn't really fit in your case… but I don't know anything about you, so… you're almost a stranger to me in that sense."

Suzume laughed and said, "I told you kid, that vomit bonded us for life. Don't look so sad at the thought of not even being friends. We are, don't sweat it." Pausing for a little bit, she said, without thinking on it too hard, "I'll tell you a bit, I suppose, near-stranger. It's not that big of a deal, kid." Leaning on her side a bit, her head on the armrest of the couch, after finishing her soup, she just said, "Got a call from someone I didn't want to hear from. He brings back bad memories." Sniffling loudly and possibly as disgustingly as she possibly could, she continued, "Didn't want to hear from him at all. He… connects me to the life I don't want to remember, kid." Kise passed her a tissue from the tissue box on the table, and she thanked him. Looking strangely morose, she finished with, "Well, it's nothing big. I'll get over it, kid, don't worry. Thanks for being a pal and listening." Looking at him with a sly smile and said, "Kid, don't tell me I've rubbed off on you. You respect me _that_ much, do you, Ryouta-chan?"

"Hmm… okay, I'll let this go," Kise said with a small smile. "And you're right, that vomit bonded us for life, so I'm going to be a good friend. You're a good influence on me, I think, Miyakigawa-senpai." He knew about secrets, and how prying only led to a clam closing more. Everyone had their secrets, including himself, and no matter how he wanted for everything laid bare, it wouldn't happen, and maybe, it was better that way. With a small frown, he pulled his smaller, but much tougher, senpai toward him and gave her a friendly hug. And he said, "If you ever want to talk, I'm here, Miyakigawa-senpai. You know, in case you ever want to spill your secrets to your adorable, stranger-like therapist." He knew it hardly made any sense but that didn't stop him from trying. He never prided himself on his eloquence, nor apparently his skill for noticing fine details since Suzume seemed like a rock in his arms, unmoving.

She responded and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a light pat on the shoulder blade. "There, there, don't worry, I'll be there for you too, kid. Don't cry on me." He did look it, what with how he seemed the one hugging her so desperately. Suzume chuckled at her own joke and Kise couldn't help but laugh a little too. Suzume grew glad that someone stuck by her. She just found it unexpected that the younger kid stood by her, not someone who she would have expected.

"_You're just a scared little girl, but who else do you even have?"_ Hiro had said.

_Hiro, you're wrong, I have someone at least who's willing to not throw me to the dogs, _Suzume thought. Drawing away from Kise, she stated, "So, you going to nurse me or what?" With a grin aimed at him.

"Of course, Miyakigawa-senpai. Can't have you snorting out boogers and ruining the couch," Kise joked. At her scoff, he retrieved medication from one of the plastic bags he brought with them and instructed for her to take two. "You should get to sleep right after this."

Regardless of what she told him, he placed a wet cloth on her forehead, gave her medication, made sure all her needs were attended to, while he watched the television silently. Kise couldn't keep his eyes awake late into the night. And so the two of them fell asleep on the couch together, wrapped up in Suzume's thick blanket, and with the soft sound of Star Wars playing in the background.

_May the force be with you_

Hell, who needed the force when they had adorable, stranger-like therapist looking out for them? _I don't need that shit,_ Suzume concluded, with her last thought before she drifted off to dreamland.

* * *

_Words: 3 997_


	4. Do I Care?

**A Penny for Your Thoughts**

_Written by Whimsical Symphony_

_Sorry, been awhile, now have the next chapter released with more Suzume to go around, the grand entry of our lovely Kurokocchi, and shit happening. Hope you guys dig it and if you don't, just tell me why because I'd love to improve._

_EDIT: Embarrassing error fixed. Ahem, Aika doesn't have kids. That was my own typo..._

* * *

**Chapter IV – Do I Care?**

When Suzume woke up, she felt a warm something near her knees, and so she nudged it a little. Opening her eyes and waiting for the light to not blind her vision like it often did upon first waking, she looked around and knew immediately what the warmth was, and smiled a little.

Kise slept on the couch too, both of them surrounded in her large blanket. His long legs lay half sprawled off the couch, and part of his legs touched her knees, shins and feet. He looked peaceful, and suddenly, gratefulness pooled in her stomach. She didn't feel nearly as sick as she did the day before, and that was all because of Kise.

Stretching, Suzume shifted a little and wanted to get just a bit more sleep in. The shifting of the couch caused Kise to awaken slowly though, and sluggishly. Suzume wondered if he wanted to know just how bad of a bedhead he sported. _Someone as vain as him wouldn't be pleased_, she thought, biting back a grin.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. Get a good sleep?"

Her voice startled him, as that's when he realized he was not in his bedroom. He looked at her then, her unflustered appearance despite their current position. He wouldn't have expected to fall asleep on a couch with her – and even though that's all they did, he still found himself getting a tad embarrassed. He wondered if he was a flustered schoolgirl or something, to get so shaken up by just waking up beside a girl when nothing even happened. But then, he frowned when he looked at her. Suzume wasn't a _girl, _she was a woman. A full grown woman who thought of him as a kid, so everything was just fine.

"What're you breaking your head over thinking about? Work your brain too hard and even a 13% will be hard to get," Suzume joked. Seeing the flush on his cheeks then, she smirked and said, "What, you embarrassed? It's not as if I'm girl who'll go gaga over you, kid. Don't worry. If it helps, just think I'm a dude and we have a bromance so awesome we can have sleepovers and braid each other's hair."

Kise laughed a little then, forcing himself to relax, but feeling the heat from the contact of the skin of their sent him reeling again. Hell yes he felt awkward. But kind of nice, maybe, where their skin touched. He tried to drag his thoughts away from that place.

"That makes us both sound like girls, Suzume-senpai," he quipped. He shuddered at the thought of braiding her hair and having her _somehow _braid his short hair.

"Fine, think of yourself as a girl – doesn't matter much to me. Oh how I look forward to braiding your hair! Oh and we can paint each other's nails, Ryo-_chwan_!" she somehow managed to deadpan. Suzume nearly burst out laughing at the apprehension on his face. Pausing for a moment, she struggled to say what she wanted to say. A rare occurrence for someone who knew what to say like her. "Listen," he looked at her questioningly, "thanks. I feel a lot better since you came over. And, you know? Seems like you managed to chase bad memories away. I give you a score of 100% on that, kid."

Somehow her praise made his heart feel warmer. For him, honest friendships were rare – just something where he could spend his time in full enjoyment and chase away worries with his skills. Kasamatsu was one of those rare friendships, and he'd like to think of Kurokocchi and Momoicchi as those too. But most people he liked, he respected, but didn't get all that close to. Suzume made him feel as if he could achieve one of those ever elusive friendships.

"Anytime, Miyakigawa-senpai." Kise smiled at her and rose from the couch. Stretching his limbs he then said, "I should probably head out. Aika might be throwing a fit."

"I told her you were here already. Seemed surprised, but she's not worried." Suzume looked at him flushing from embarrassment. "Kid, you embarrassed you spent the night with a woman?" Suzume bit back a laugh. "And you said you had girlfriends before."

"I did – lots. I didn't do anything with them… that way and I usually found them too annoying to sleep beside," Kise admitted with a frown. He thought of his numerous girlfriends and how he used to evade the invitations they gave him to stay over. Even if he just held her, he knew he'd have to watch that her hands kept to themselves or she didn't chatter his ear off. And then there were the ones who clearly only stayed with him to show off to friends, so only got affectionate in public. "So you're actually the first. It's not in the girlfriend sense, obviously, but it was kind of nice."

Even if Aika would want to know exactly what happened and how. But for once he felt he could sleep peacefully without worrying about stupid things. Suzume always did that for him.

"I see then. Glad you don't find me annoying, kid," Suzume offered with a slight smile. Somehow, she day about nothing with, waste the day away staring at the clouds. "Don't call me Miyakigawa anymore, kid. What about Suzume-senpai, or if you're brave enough, I don't care if you shoot the honorific off."

"Suzume-senpai?" he tested. At her nodding with acceptance, he didn't know he'd feel so unbearably happy and warm. Kise looked at her and laughed a little. "You have a bedhead, Suzume-senpai." And really, she did, and it made her almost look _cute, _somewhat vulnerable in comparison to when she walked out in public not giving two craps about her appearance, looking cool and composed with a devil-may-care attitude.

"So do you, Ryouta-chan. We match," Suzume deadpanned. Then also rising from the couch, she smoothed Kise's hair down for him. "There we go." His hair felt soft really, as expected of a model.

"Thanks," Kise murmured. Raising his own hands, he smoothed down Suzume's hair for her, threading his fingers in her hair. He looked at her unflustered appearance, how she just looked at _him _not some fabricated human being, some perfect person who didn't have flaws. And he remembered how she had the courage to point out his own flaws to him, make him aware of his own shortcomings. Removing his fingers from her dark hair, pleased at how neat it looked now, he said, "There. It's neat now."

Suzume chuckled. "Thanks for your expertise, kid."

"No problem, Suzume-senpai." He jokingly saluted her. Then, grinning slyly, he leant down and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. To her credit, she didn't look at all like she'd blush. "I just kissed the last of your illness away," he said. Giving her a quick embrace then, he continued, "Well, I should be heading home now. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Don't worry, kid," Suzume told him warmly. "I'll be okay." It felt good knowing that someone appreciated her, actually – even if the kid decided to show it with a kiss. The hug felt nice though, like for once, she could rely on someone else. In a weird way, Kise became her therapist too without even knowing.

When he left after a prolonged goodbye, because really, Kise Ryouta never kept his mouth shut, she lounged about on the couch and decided to continue watching Star Wars. Looking at everything he did to take care of her, Suzume was grateful to him.

She wondered whether he was starting to become a real friend to her. Even if in age, she was older and had much more life experience than he did.

* * *

Kise left his school early the next day to visit Seirin, giving some excuse to the teacher about a modelling shoot. Usually, it didn't work, but this time, his sensei was impressed with his performance in class. And about that essay. So in his heart he thanked his senpai for it all.

Tapping his feet idly as he leant against the wall connected to the open gate, he wondered when Kurokocchi would come out and ignored the girls staring, giggling and pointing at him as they often did. They hadn't spent a lot of time together at all since he decided to go to Seirin. He imagined all the good times they would have had if he decided on Kaijou as his school of choice.

"Ah, Kise-kun. What are you doing here?"

Kise turned around and noticed Kuroko Tetsuya staring at him with that blank gaze. He appeared out of nowhere, as usual.

"Do I need a reason to spend time with my best friend, Kurokocchi?" Kise told him with a smile. "We don't see each other that much."

He pretended not to notice the stares on him, not just because girls obviously were starting to realize that _the _Kise Ryouta was at Seirin, but also a bunch of other stares.

"Who is he talking to?"

Understandably, Kurokocchi's lack of presence brought that on.

"We're not friends," Kuroko replied honestly. "We just went to the same school."

"That hurts, Kurokocchi!" Kise whined petulantly. He remembered all that Kuroko taught him during their years at Teikou and how much he learned from the small basketball player he once underestimated. And he remembered how they often went out to eat, even if he often dragged Kuroko along with him, and how much they played games together, even if he often dragged Kuroko into that too. They had a lot of fun together, even if to Kuroko, he wasn't Aomine. "Anyway, I wanted to treat you to food today, so let's go."

Sighing, Kuroko prepared to babysit Kise for the rest of the afternoon. "Fine, Kise-kun."

Kise grinned, understanding that his annoying personality often got him what he wanted.

* * *

They stopped by a nice café eventually. Kuroko ordered himself a smoked salmon sandwich and a cup of French vanilla coffee. Kise ordered himself a nice shrimp and pesto pasta and bubble tea along with it. It felt nice relaxing with Kurokocchi like old times, he thought, almost as if nothing in their basketball team changed. Or if it did, at least the dynamic between him and Kuroko stayed the same.

If he spoke honestly, he knew he wouldn't be able to bear it if something happened to his relationship with Kuroko. Even if he knew it wouldn't change much – Kuroko always behaved the same way, and acted as an anchor, some kind of constant for a lot of people.

Back then, Kise believed that if Kuroko didn't choose Kaijou, he'd lose him forever. Now, he realized he should have trusted in Kuroko more. Sure, maybe he would have preferred him there with him in Kaijou, but he didn't lose Kuroko as he thought he would.

He just saw him less often. But when Kise saw him, he spoke as if no time passed between their last meeting at all. It was refreshing to not have that awkward pause when one realized they hadn't seen their friend in months.

If he ever lost Kuroko, he didn't know what he'd do. Kuroko made Kise realize much about himself, gave him someone to truly admire. And he didn't know how much he gave to Kise either, completely oblivious to it.

Kise relaxed in his seat and asked, "How's the sandwich, Kurokocchi?"

"Salty," Kuroko replied, "but pretty nice." Taking a small nibble of it and then placing it down again, he asked, "did you just come here to see me?"

"Yeah," Kise told him. "I wanted to visit day before yesterday, but a senpai of mine fell really ill. I went over to take care of them."

Kuroko noticed that Kise acted curiously, and questioned, "Kasamatsu-san?"

"No… this is a friend of my sister's. Well mine too kind of. Actually," Kise looked at Kuroko for a second and said, "she reminds me somewhat of a mix between you and Kasamatsu-senpai. Coaches me but also makes sure I have my head on right. She always calls me a kid."

He smiled a little thinking about her, and wondered if she felt better than she did two days ago. And whether she still had those bad memories and nightmares plaguing her. Somehow, just by looking at her, he knew she lived a hard life. Maybe that's how she knew so much about people.

"You like her," Kuroko said bluntly.

"She's my friend," Kise corrected at once. He couldn't imagine being with her that way at all. Especially right when they finally recognized their status as friends, and not even ones _that _close. "She just makes me realize a lot about myself. Like you do, Kurokocchi. And… she's also older than me, so I wouldn't even be considered that way."

"She's not double your age is she?" Kuroko asked, raising an eyebrow and then eating more of his sandwich.

Kise shook his head quickly and said, "Twenty, she's twenty. And I don't even like her that way, Kurokocchi!" he protested.

"Whatever you say," Kuroko replied, bored.

Just then, Kise's phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and noticed that the caller was Aika. Blinking once, he picked up the call and held the phone to his ear. "Hello?" The conversation made his head reel, and his eyes widen. He wasn't ready to see _them_ again, not at all. When he put the phone down, he stared blankly at the wall behind Kuroko.

They finished their meals in silence after that, and the tension could be cut with a knife. Kise paid, as he promised and they both made their way out the door.

"Kise-kun, wait," Kuroko called when Kise started to walk in the opposite direction. Kise paused and turned around, looking questioningly at Kuroko. He said, "Call me if you need to talk, or visit…" before walking off then, disappearing like the phantom sixth man he was.

"Thank you, Kurokocchi," Kise whispered to himself.

He knew at least no matter how much Kuroko denied their friendship, he still cared for Kise.

* * *

Aika sat at the dinner table beside Kise, and across from them were their parents who came back from vacation. Kise's dad almost never smiled – a straight-laced, serious man who wanted results from his children. And his mom, well, he must have gotten much of his looks from her, same with his other sister who got him into modelling. But he'd like to think he acted like neither of his parents, for while his dad was serious, his mom was incredibly materialistic. But at least she didn't insult him all the time, even though she often said that being beautiful was the most important thing, as was dating pretty girls and looking like a museum relic.

He hated it.

While Kise did have an ego, and did like to dress and look nice, he didn't think it to the level of his mother who pushed her ideals onto her own children.

"So, Kise, you got a 13% on that test of yours, didn't you? Useless," his father, Kise Kyouya, said, then picking up his fork and having a portion of the meatloaf on the plate.

"Don't say that, honey! He works hard at modelling, you can't expect him to be good at _everything_. He's decent at English, but look at how many people admire our darling child and his sister because of how many magazines they've been in!" his mother, Kise Ume, protested vehemently. She turned to Aika and said, "You should follow in the footsteps of your brother! You're definitely pretty enough."

"Being beautiful is not important, but his intelligence is! Do you want him to be an airheaded bimbo? At least Aika has the grades," Kyouya retorted, cutting harshly into the meatloaf yet again and stuffing it into his mouth.

Both children looked at each other, minding each other that no matter what their parents said they wouldn't take it personally.

"But one thing I agree with your mother about is that you have to associate with the right people. Who is that slovenly friend you told me about, Aika? The one who helped you when you were drunk? I can't believe you became friends with her – Suzume or something, right?" Kyouya said, oblivious to the shock painting his son's features. "You need to associate with better people. From what you told me about this girl, Aika, how 'cool' she seems- she just comes across as trouble. Not only that but you haven't met her in an educational setting. What if her grades are terrible, you shouldn't be associating with her!"

"Yes, yes – but if she's gorgeous, feel free to bring her inside!" Ume quipped. She looked at Kise, "Are you seeing anyone, dear?"

Aika knew trouble when she saw it, and if Kise clenching his fists didn't mean trouble, she didn't know what did. If she wasn't honest with her parents then they would have found out anyway and then thrown a fit about her lying to them. They couldn't recognize a good person when they saw one, wouldn't ever see what a good person Suzume was. She knew that. And knew that her and her little brother had become friends, strangely enough, and for Kise especially, she'd become an honest friend, judging on how protective he was of her now.

"No," Kise said bluntly, much like what Kurokocchi would have done. "I'm not in the mood to talk to you right now, sorry." Without waiting for anyone he slipped on his shoes and walked out the door – into the rain, into the night.

Aika hoped he'd come back soon. And that he wasn't to hurt by what their parents said. Those two were angry enough for him too.

* * *

When Suzume got back from doing groceries late at night, she didn't expect that when she reached her door, Kise would be sitting, sleeping, in front of it. Observing him she noticed the skin around his eyes red and tear tracks on his skin. Something clearly happened to him to make him sad, and for some reason, he'd ran to her.

A little concerned then, she took her phone out of her pocket and dialed Aika's number.

"_Hello?" _

"Any idea why your kid brother is outside my apartment unit?" Suzume asked, hoping for a clear answer.

"_Oh, he's there then, that's good. Listen, our parents aren't the nicest people, he stormed out during dinner today…"_ Aika trailed off then. _"Can you do me a favour and look after him today? I don't think they expect him to come back either."_

"Don't worry, I would have even if you hadn't asked me." Suzume, with that, hung up. Putting down her shopping bags, she knelt next to Kise's form and shook him awake from the shoulder. "Kid, wake up."

Groggily, he opened his eyes and saw Suzume looking at him, worried. He knew that she knew something was up. "Sorry," he apologized, feeling bad for intruding upon her already.

Suzume shook her head and said, "Don't worry about that. Just come inside. I let Aika know where you are." She took his hand and noticed how cold it was. _His parents must have said some shitty things_, she thought mildly, knowing Kise reacted badly to just about nothing. But whatever words were exchanged between them, she had to now cheer him up and figure out what was up. "Kids like you enjoy ice-cream, don't you? I just got some green tea flavoured ice cream at the store…"

Somehow, despite everything that happened to him, Kise wanted to laugh a little at her attempt to cheer him up. He liked being honestly cared for. He didn't have much of that in his life. And the fact she didn't even mention anything about his situation yet. Honestly, she acted so familiar to Kurokocchi. "Thank you, Suzume-senpai."

He wondered if he'd ever find it in him to call her Suzumecchi.

* * *

_Words: 3 335_


End file.
